The NCUA Board (Board) has proposed to amend its share insurance regulation governing the requirements for a share account to be separately insured as a joint account by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF). Specifically, it provides that information contained in the account records establishing co-ownership could satisfy the membership card or account signature card requirement necessary for insurance coverage (signature card requirement). Examples that would fulfil the signature card requirement include the issuing of a mechanism for accessing the account, such as a debit card, to each co-owner or evidence of usage of the joint share account by each co-owner. The intention of the proposed rule change is to facilitate the prompt payment of share insurance in the event of a FICU’s failure. This proposal mirrors a change made by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in August 2019 for federally insured deposit institutions. The Board emphasized the reason for the proposal is that it is important to maintain parity between the nation’s two federal deposit/share insurance programs.
